A green approach to dual-drug nanoformulations with targeting and synergistic effects for cancer therapy

The Use of Nanoneedles in Drug Delivery: an Overview of Recent Trends and Applications

Nanoneedles (NN) are growing rapidly as a means of navigating biological membranes and delivering therapeutics intracellularly. Nanoneedle arrays (NNA) are among the most potential resources to achieve therapeutic effects by administration of drugs through the skin. Although this is based on well-established approaches, its implementations are rapidly developing as an important pharmaceutical and biological research phenomenon. This study intends to provide a broad overview of current NNA research, with an emphasis on existing approaches, applications, and types of compounds released by these systems. A nanoneedle-based delivery device with great spatial and temporal accuracy, minimal interference, and low toxicity could transfer biomolecules into living organisms. Due to its vast potential, NN has been widely used as a capable transportation system of many therapeutic active substances, from cancer therapy, vaccine delivery, cosmetics, and bio-sensing nanocarrier drugs to genes. The use of nanoneedles for drug delivery offers new opportunities for the rapid, targeted, and exact administration of biomolecules into cell membranes for high-resolution research of biological systems, and it can treat a wide range of biological challenges. As a result, the literature has analyzed existing patents to emphasize the status of NNA in biological applications.

Inorganic nanoparticle-based advanced cancer therapies: promising combination strategies

Inorganic nanoparticles for drug delivery in cancer treatment offer many potential advantages because they can maximize therapeutic effect through targeting ligands while minimizing off-target side-effects through drug adsorption and infiltration. Although inorganic nanoparticles were introduced as drug carriers, they have emerged as having the capacity for combined therapeutic capabilities, including anticancer effects through cytotoxicity, suppression of oncogenes and cancer cell signaling pathway inhibition. The most promising advanced strategies for cancer therapy are as synergistic platforms for RNA interference (siRNA, miRNA, shRNA) and as synergistic drug delivery agents for the inhibition of cancer cell signaling pathways. The present work summarizes relevant current work, the promise of which is suggested by a projected compound annual growth rate of ∼20% for drug delivery alone.

Advances in Antitumor Nano-Drug Delivery Systems of 10-Hydroxycamptothecin

10-Hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) is a natural plant alkaloid from Camptotheca that shows potent antitumor activity by targeting intracellular topoisomerase I. However, factors such as instability of the lactone ring and insolubility in water have limited the clinical application of this drug. In recent years, unprecedented advances in biomedical nanotechnology have facilitated the development of nano drug delivery systems. It has been found that nanomedicine can significantly improve the stability and water solubility of HCPT. NanoMedicines with different diagnostic and therapeutic functions have been developed to significantly improve the anticancer effect of HCPT. In this paper, we collected reports on HCPT nanomedicines against tumors in the past decade. Based on current research advances, we dissected the current status and limitations of HCPT nanomedicines development and looked forward to future research directions.

Dual Drug Loaded, pH-Sensitive Metal-Organic Particles for Synergistic Cancer Therapy

The strategy for dual drug-loaded nanomedicine with targeting properties was always complex. Herein, a novel strategy for the preparation of metal-organic particle-based nanomedicine has been developed, and combretastatin A4 (CA4) and mitoxantrone (MIT) loaded MOPs (CMMOPs) have been obtained. In this system, using merely Cu(II) as a bridge to connect and coordinate with the dual drugs has resulted in the CMMOPs possessing a fairly high drug load of almost 90%. Moreover, the coordination between Cu(II) and the drugs was stable at physiological pH but easily cleavable in the tumor acidic microenvironment, which would provide a good targeting property for CMMOPs. The in vivo experiments indicated that CMMOPs possessed a significantly enhanced antitumor efficiency with negligible side effects. The results suggest that CMMOPs could be a potential anticancer formulation for tumor-targeted drug delivery.

Cervical cancer and novel therapeutic and diagnostic approaches using chitosan as a carrier: A review

In our knowledge, using appropriate carriers in delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs, would result in better targeting and therefore it would increase the effectiveness and decrease the side effects of drugs. Chitosan, a natural polymer derived from chitin, has attracted the attention of pharmaceutical industries recently. New research show that chitosan not only can be used in drug delivery but it can also have some usages in prevention and diagnosis of cancer. This means that using chitosan Nanoformulations can be a promising approach for prevention, diagnosis, and specially treatment of cervical cancer, fourth common cancer among the women of the world. We aim to investigate the related papers to find a novel method and preventing more women from suffering.

Study on the Application of Doxorubicin-Loaded Magnetic Nanodrugs in Targeted Therapy of Liver Cancer

Doxorubicin (DOX) has been widely recognized as effective in anticancer therapy; however, the additional organ toxicity and low targeting of DOX in antitumor activity remains unaddressed. The aim of this study was to use the drug carrier dextran/polylactic acid (DEX/PLA) and paramagnetic Fe3O4 to improve the targeting of DOX in liver cancer treatment while reducing its potential organ toxicity. Our experimental results show that the combination drug (Fe3O4@DEX/PLA-DOX) exhibits strong hepatocarcinogenic inhibition and low cytotoxicity and that this modified drug provides a better option for clinical liver cancer treatment.

Carrier-free nanodrugs with efficient drug delivery and release for cancer therapy: From intrinsic physicochemical properties to external modification

The considerable development of carrier-free nanodrugs has been achieved due to their high drug-loading capability, simple preparation method, and offering "all-in-one" functional platform features. However, the native defects of carrier-free nanodrugs limit their delivery and release behavior throughout the in vivo journey, which significantly compromise the therapeutic efficacy and hinder their further development in cancer treatment. In this review, we summarized and discussed the recent strategies to enhance drug delivery and release of carrier-free nanodrugs for improved cancer therapy, including optimizing the intrinsic physicochemical properties and external modification. Finally, the corresponding challenges that carrier-free nanodrugs faced are discussed and the future perspectives for its application are presented. We hope this review will provide constructive information for the rational design of more effective carrier-free nanodrugs to advance therapeutic treatment.

Evaluating the Anticarcinogenic Activity of Surface Modified/Functionalized Nanochitosan: The Emerging Trends and Endeavors

Chitosan begins its humble journey from marine food shell wastes and ends up as a versatile nutraceutical. This review focuses on briefly discussing the antioxidant activity of chitosan and retrospecting the accomplishments of chitosan nanoparticles as an anticarcinogen. The various modified/functionalized/encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles and nanoforms have been listed and their biomedical deliverables presented. The anticancer accomplishments of chitosan and its modified composites have been reviewed and presented. The future of surface modified chitosan and the lacunae in the current research focus have been discussed as future perspective. This review puts forth the urge to expand the scientific curiosity towards attempting a variety of functionalization and surface modifications to chitosan. There are few well known modifications and functionalization that benefit biomedical applications that have been proven for other systems. Being a biodegradable, biocompatible polymer, chitosan-based nanomaterials are an attractive option for medical applications. Therefore, maximizing expansion of its bioactive properties are explored. The need for applying the ideal functionalization that will significantly promote the anticancer contributions of chitosan nanomaterials has also been stressed.

Chitosan nanoparticles as a promising tool in nanomedicine with particular emphasis on oncological treatment

The study describes the current state of knowledge on nanotechnology and its utilization in medicine. The focus in this manuscript was on the properties, usage safety, and potentially valuable applications of chitosan-based nanomaterials. Chitosan nanoparticles have high importance in nanomedicine, biomedical engineering, discovery and development of new drugs. The manuscript reviewed the new studies regarding the use of chitosan-based nanoparticles for creating new release systems with improved bioavailability, increased specificity and sensitivity, and reduced pharmacological toxicity of drugs. Nowadays, effective cancer treatment is a global problem, and recent advances in nanomedicine are of great importance. Special attention was put on the application of chitosan nanoparticles in developing new system for anticancer drug delivery. Pre-clinical and clinical studies support the use of chitosan-based nanoparticles in nanomedicine. This manuscript overviews the last progresses regarding the utilization, stability, and bioavailability of drug nanoencapsulation with chitosan and their safety.

Carrier-Free Triterpene Prodrugs with Glutathione Response and Biosafety for Synergistically Enhanced Photochemotherapy

Carrier-free pure drug self-assembled nanosystems have been proposed as a promising strategy for synergetic anticancer therapy. Herein, we purposefully designed and synthesized disulfide-modified glutathione (GSH)-responsive natural pentacyclic triterpene betulinic acid (BA) with better biodegradability and biocompatibility to construct carrier-free photosensitive prodrugs BA-S-S/Ce6 NPs for synergistically enhanced and biosafe photochemotherapy. The molecular dynamics simulation elucidates the possible coassembly mechanism that the coplanar arrangement of BA-S-S dimeric may be primarily responsible for the formation of a long lamella-like or spherical morphology. The density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the reduced energy gap (ΔEST) of Ce6 facilitates the improved singlet oxygen generation of BA-S-S/Ce6 nanoparticles (NPs). The assembled prodrugs exhibited remarkable GSH-responsive property and multiple favorable therapeutic features, leading to enhanced synergistic antitumor efficacy without noticeable toxicity. Additionally, evaluation of the antitumor efficacy of another tetracyclic triterpene stigmasterol (ST)-mediated ST-S-S/Ce6 NPs further confirmed the effectiveness of this rational design. This work provides a promising insight for exploring the pure drug self-assembly behavior and construction of GSH-responsive carrier-free triterpenoid prodrugs toward improved multiple combination antitumor therapies.

Development of a pH-sensitive functionalized metal organic framework: in vitro study for simultaneous delivery of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide in breast cancer

Exploration of an efficient dual-drug based nanocarrier with high drug loading capacity, specific targeting properties, and long-term stability is highly desirable in cancer therapy. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have proven to be a promising class of drug carriers due to their high porosity, crystalline properties with defined structure information, and their potential for further functionalization. To enhance the drug efficacy as well as to overcome the burst effect of drugs, here we synthesized a pH responsive folic acid (FA) and graphene oxide (GO) decorated zeolitical imidazolate frameworks-8 (GO–FA/ZIF-8), for targeted delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) and cyclophosphamide (CP), simultaneously. In this system, DOX molecules were encapsulated in the pores of ZIF-8 during in situ synthesis of ZIF-8 and CP molecules have been captured by the GO surface via hydrogen bonding and π–π interactions as well. Furthermore, the resulting pH-responsive nanocarrier (DOX@ZIF-8/GO–FA/CP) showed in vitro sustained release characteristics (76% of DOX and 80% of CP) by cleavage of chemical bonding and disruption of the MOFs structure under acidic condition (at pH 5.6). Moreover, DOX@ZIF-8/GO–FA/CP has synergistic cytotoxic effects as compared to the combination of both the drugs without ZIF-8/GO–FA when treating MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines (with a combination index of 0.29 and 0.75 for MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell-lines, respectively). Hence this system can be applied as an effective platform for smart dual drug delivery in breast cancer treatment through its remarkable manageable multidrug release.

Exploration of an efficient dual-drug based nanocarrier with high drug loading capacity, specific targeting properties, and long-term stability is highly desirable in cancer therapy.

A Dual Nanoparticle Delivery Strategy for Enhancing Drug Distribution in Cancerous Tissue

Nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery may be a promising alternative to traditional chemotherapy of high systemic toxicity. Tumor tissue architecture poses a challenge to delivery of nanoparticles. Small and spherical nanoparticles have poor adherence to the tumor vasculature, while larger and more eccentric ones create high heterogeneity in tissue-to-drug exposure. In previous work, we quantified these tradeoffs using numerical optimization. In this study, we demonstrate that simultaneous delivery of multiple nanoparticle designs can enhance drug distribution in the cancerous tissue without compromising nanoparticle tumoral accumulation. We formulate and solve optimization problems to find the optimal constituent of the heterogeneous injection in terms of nanoparticle design diversity that increases drug distribution by 14%.

Advances and perspectives in carrier-free nanodrugs for cancer chemo-monotherapy and combination therapy

Nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems hold impressive promise for biomedical application because of their excellent water dispersibility, prolonged blood circulation time, increased drug accumulation in tumors, and potential in combination therapeutics. However, most nanocarriers suffer from low drug-loading efficiency, poor therapeutic effectiveness, potential systematic toxicity, and unstable metabolism. As an alternative, carrier-free nanodrugs, completely formulated with one or more drugs, have attracted increasing attention in cancer therapy due to their advantage of improved pharmacodynamics/pharmacokinetics, reduced toxicity, and high drug-loading. In recent years, carrier-free nanodrugs have contributed to progress in a variety of therapeutic modalities. In this review, different common strategies for carrier-free nanodrugs preparation are first summarized, mainly including nanoprecipitation, template-assisted nanoprecipitation, thin-film hydration, spray-drying technique, supercritical fluid (SCF) technique, and wet media milling. Then we describe the recently reported carrier-free nanodrugs for cancer chemo-monotherapy or combination therapy. The advantages of anti-cancer drugs combined with other chemotherapeutic, photosensitizers, photothermal, immunotherapeutic or gene drugs have been demonstrated. Finally, a future perspective is introduced to highlight the existing challenges and possible solutions toward clinical application of currently developed carrier-free nanodrugs, which may be instructive to the design of effective carrier-free regimens in the future.

Preparation and characterization of folic acid functionalized bioactive glass for targeted delivery and sustained release of methotrexate

We have successfully prepared a novel targeted drug delivery system, composed of folic acid (FA) as targeting molecule, methotrexate (MTX) as anticancer drug, and bioactive glass (BG) as carrier. The BG nanoparticles were synthesized by sol-gel method with the dodecylamine as template. The surface of BG nanoparticles was grafted with amino groups by (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane, then, FA and MTX were covalently conjugated to the surface of modified BG through amidation reaction, so FA functionalized BG (BG-FA) and targeted drug delivery system (MTX-BG-FA) were prepared. The physicochemical properties of BG, BG-NH₂ , and BG-FA were characterized by various methods, such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible, and so on. Moreover, the drug release results showed that the MTX-BG-FA had sustained release property because of the peptide bond between MTX and BG-FA. And the cytocompatibility evaluation demonstrated that the BG and BG-FA were biocompatible and BG-FA even could promote cell proliferation, while the MTX-BG-FA had high cytotoxicity owning to the sustained release of anticancer drug. From the above, it could be concluded that MTX-BG-FA could kill tumor cells targetedly and sustainedly, which made it a good cancer targeted therapy material. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 107A: 319-329, 2019.

Multifunctional Cargo-Free Nanomedicine for Cancer Therapy

Nanocarriers encapsulating multiple chemotherapeutics are a promising strategy to achieve combinational chemotherapy for cancer therapy; however, they generally use exotic new carriers without therapeutic effect, which usually suffer from carrier-related toxicity issues, as well as having to pass extensive clinical trials to be drug excipients before any clinical applications. Cargo-free nanomedicines, which are fabricated by drugs themselves without new excipients and possess nanoscale characteristics to realize favorable pharmacokinetics and intracellular delivery, have been rapidly developed and drawn much attention to cancer treatment. Herein, we discuss recent advances of cargo-free nanomedicines for cancer treatment. After a brief introduction to the major types of carrier-free nanomedicine, some representative applications of these cargo-free nanomedicines are discussed, including combination therapy, immunotherapy, as well as self-monitoring of drug release. More importantly, this review draws a brief conclusion and discusses the future challenges of cargo-free nanomedicines from our perspective.

Dual-responsive dithio-polydopamine coated porous CeO2 nanorods for targeted and synergistic drug delivery

Objective

The aim was to produce the first report of assembling degradable stimuli-responsive dithio-polydopamine coating with a cancer target unit for synergistic and targeted drug delivery.

Methods

A multifunctional drug delivery system was constructed by coating a dual-responsive dithio-polydopamine (PDS) on porous CeO₂ nanorods and subsequent conjugation of lactose derivative, where the PDS was formed by self-polymerization of dithio-dopamine (DOPASS).

Results

The multifunctional drug delivery system displayed excellent cancer targeted ability resulting from the conjugation of lactose derivative, which could specifically recognize the overexpressed asialoglycoprotein receptors on the surface of HepG2 cells. It also showed a dual-responsive property of glutathione and pH, achieving controllable drug release from the cleavage of disulfide bond and subsequent degradation of PDS in cancer cells. Moreover, the degradation of PDS led to the exposure of CeO₂ nanorods, which has a synergistic anticancer effect due to its cytotoxicity to cancer cells.

Conclusion

This work presents a good example of a rational design towards synergistic and targeted DDS for cancer chemotherapies.

Polydopamine and peptide decorated doxorubicin-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a targeted drug delivery system for bladder cancer therapy

We reported a simple polydopamine (PDA)-based surface modification method to prepare novel targeted doxorubicin-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles and peptide CSNRDARRC conjugation (DOX-loaded MSNs@PDA-PEP) for enhancing the therapeutic effects on bladder cancer. Drug-loaded NPs were characterized in terms of size, size distribution, zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and drug loading content. In vitro drug release indicated that DOX-loaded MSNs@PDA and MSNs@PDA-PEP had similar release kinetic profiles of DOX. The PDA coating well controlled DOX release and was highly sensitive to pH value. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that drug-loaded MSNs could be internalized by human bladder cancer cell line HT-1376, and DOX-loaded MSNs@PDA-PEP had the highest cellular uptake efficiency due to ligand-receptor recognition. The antitumor effects of DOX-loaded nanoparticles were evaluated by the MTT assay in vitro and by a xenograft tumor model in vivo, demonstrating that targeted nanocarriers DOX-loaded MSNs@PDA-PEP were significantly superior to free DOX and DOX-loaded MSNs@PDA. The novel DOX-loaded MSNs@PDA-PEP, which specifically recognized HT-1376 cells, can be used as a potential targeted drug delivery system for bladder cancer therapy.

Preliminary study on fabrication, characterization and synergistic anti-lung cancer effects of self-assembled micelles of covalently conjugated celastrol-polyethylene glycol-ginsenoside Rh2

The aim of this study was to develop an amphipathic polyethylene glycol (PEG) derivative that was bi-terminally modified with celastrol and ginsenoside Rh2 (Celastrol-PEG-G Rh2). Such derivative was capable of forming novel, celastrol-loaded polymeric micelles (CG-M) for endo/lysosomal delivery and thereby synergistic treatment of lung cancer. Celastrol-PEG-G Rh2 with a yield of 55.6% was first synthesized and characterized. Its critical micellar concentration was 1 × 10-5 M, determined by pyrene entrapment method. CG-M had a small particle size of 121.53 ± 2.35 nm, a narrow polydispersity index of 0.214 ± 0.001 and a moderately negative zeta potential of -23.14 ± 3.15 mV. Celastrol and G Rh2 were rapidly released from CG-M under acidic and enzymatic conditions, but slowly released in normal physiological environments. In cellular studies, the internalization of celastrol and G Rh2 by human non-small cell lung cancer (A549) cells treated with CG-M was 5.8-fold and 1.8-fold higher than that of non-micelle control. Combinational therapy of celastrol and G Rh2 using CG-M exhibited synergistic anticancer activities in cell apoptosis and proliferation assays via rapid drug release within endo/lysosomes. Most importantly, the celastrol in CG-M exhibited a long elimination half-life of 445.3 ± 43.5 min and an improved area under the curve of 645060.8 ± 63640.7 ng/mL/h, that were 1.03-fold and 2.44-fold greater than those of non-micelle control, respectively. These findings suggest that CG-M is a promising vector for precisely releasing anticancer drugs within the tumor cells, and thereby exerts an improved synergistic anti-lung cancer effect.